Recovery
by werebunny131
Summary: There is no way Grovyle, Dusknoir, and Celebi recovered fast enough to catch up to Primal Dialga in time to stop him. At least...not the usual way. This is what happened between the thawing of the planet, and the final confrontation. Celebi's POV. PMD Sky
1. After the Trap

When the light finally dimmed, I found myself face down in the dirt. Primal Dialga was gone. So was Spiritomb, though I hadn't expected them to stick around.

But Dusknoir was still on the ground where he had been thrown. So were the Sableye, the brave idiotic things. Grovyle was only a few feet away from me.

"Master Dusknoir!"

"Don't worry…about me…The important thing now…is to follow Master Dialga…Go help Celebi and Grovyle."

Three Sableye came over to help Grovyle and me. I was fine, a little banged up, but otherwise unhurt.

Grovyle was another matter.

"I'm…fine…" He protested. He was still on the ground, struggling to get to his knees.

"I didn't realize grass-types had such a loose concept of 'fine'. Stand up on your own, my dear, and then I will be convinced you are 'fine'."

He tried. He really did. He was lucky I was prepared to support him, or he would have fallen back on his tail. "You are not fine Grovyle. You need to heal." I looked over a Dusknoir, supported by a Sableye on each side. "You **both** need rest. Sooner rather than later."

Grovyle tried to stand on his own again. "We have to…go after Primal Dialga. We can't…let him…get away…There's…no time…"

I grinned. "Why my dear Grovyle, we have all the time we need!"

Six Sableye, a Dusknoir, and a Grovyle, all looked at me as though I had just evolved or something.

"I **can** travel back in time you know. I believe we've even done it before."

"But…Master Dialga…" Dusknoir protested. "He can shatter your time slides with ease!"

"Yes. If he were paying attention to me, which he is not." I pointed out. "Primal Dialga is not sane right now, even compared to how he was before. He's on a rampage! My little time slides are not his top priority. Certainly not if I'm only going a few hours back."

"Wheh-heh! To do what?! Stop this all from happening?" The Sableye were finally taking some initiative!

"No. If I try that, the Primal Dialga of a few hours back will stop me. I plan on doing nothing at all."

"And…How will this help us?" So all the Sableye were getting in on my plan.

"Those two," I said, indicating Grovyle and Dusknoir. "Are in bad shape. They are also the strongest Pokémon on our side. If we have to face Primal Dialga, we have to do it as close to peak form as possible, or we won't even slow him down."

"So…we go back…and…rest? That's it?"

"Yes, Grovyle. I have a lovely little tree filled to the brim with as many medical items as I could find. We all rest for a few hours, then catch up to Primal Dialga as though we were on his tail the entire time."

"Very well. Where is the closest Passage of Time?"

"Oh, Dusknoir." I smiled at him. "I do forget how little you know about me."

"For short trips…Celebi…can do it…on her own…It's only for…generations…that she needs…the Passage of Time…"

"Indeed!" I tried not to think about the fact that I had never taken so many Pokémon along in a time slide before. It would be difficult. And not just for me. Grovyle and Dusknoir were already in bad shape. And even the Sableye were not at their best.

I sent a silent prayer up to Arceus and started concentrating.

"How far back?" I asked.

"Judging by our lack of strength, and how long it took Grovyle and I to get through the dungeons to this point I'd say about…six hours or so? To be safe?"

"Alright. Hang on to each other. This will not be fun."

I released the power.


	2. Sliding

I released the power.

It wasn't fun.

Every single particle of my being was dissolved into a stream of me, Grovyle, Dusknoir, and Sableye. We flew through the time stream into the past. Not only through time, but through space as well. If we popped back in time and saw **ourselves!** Well, it would be bad. Moving through space and time at once was safer, even if tiring.

We landed, or stopped, or appeared, or however one would like to put it, right in front of my tree, six hours from when we were before.

"WHEH-heh-HEH-heh!" Two of the Sableye were on the ground. Another two were barely supporting a groaning Dusknoir. And, the last pair was shakily holding up…

"Grovyle?"

He didn't move.

"Quick!" I shouted at the Sableye, "Get them into the tree!"

"What tree?" It was only then that they realized that we were no longer in Icicle Forest.

I pointed at the tree in front of us. "The tree with the door in it! What did you think?!"

"Not…a very…clever hiding…place…if...we can all…see the…door…"

Dusknoir was right. "You **can't** usually see it…Oh no." I flew inside.

Every single item was gone.

"Wheh…What happened?"

"It's gone…It's all gone…every Oran berry…every apple…everything." It was horrible. What would have made this a restful six hours was now just another race against time. "Wild Pokémon must have broken in, and taken all they could."

"What…now...Celebi? We…We cannot…time slide…again."

"No. No we can't." I thought hard for a moment. Were there any other places we could go? Any where safe? I glanced at Grovyle. He was still unconscious. No. We had to use what was available.

If there _was_ anything available.

"Here's what we'll do."

~*~

Hey! Forgot to put a note at the beginning of the first chapter so I'm putting one here. This part is short because I wrote a big ol' chunk and there was only one place that I could really break it down at. This is my first fanfic ever published, so I'm muddling along. I'll get better eventually. Thank you for reading, and thank you reviewers!


	3. Here's What We'll Do

"Here's what we'll do." They all looked at me. I've never been the leader before. That was always Grovyle's role. I hoped for beginners luck on my leadership skills. "The beds should still be in the back, put Grovyle and Dusknoir there. Which of you Sableye are the least hurt?"

Three of them stepped forward. "Alright. You three go out and see if you can find any items we can use to heal up. Stay together, and try not to be seen."

"Can we steal?"

What was I supposed to say to that? 'Yes take from helpless Pokémon who don't even know what's going on, as long as it furthers our own goal.'

"Uh…"

"Take it…" Dusknoir ordered. "Take…anything…We need it…to save the world…It's for…the greater good…"

The Sableye nodded once, and left. I guided the remaining Sableye to the beds. Maneuvering Grovyle was easy, as limp as he was. Dusknoir tried to be helpful, but he was a bigger Pokémon than the beds were used to.

"Ungh…I have not…rested…since the battle with Grovyle…in the past…"

"Well then, you're overdue. Now stop talking and heal." I was a little short with him, I'll admit. But he had reminded me that up until a few moments ago, he had been my enemy. Grovyle was hurt because of him. But also saved because of him. The conflicting feelings were…distracting.

We had less than six hours to get those two back on their feet. With no items. I didn't have time to be distracted.

"Sableye, could you all search the rest of the tree and see if there is anything left behind?"

"Wheh-heh-heh! On it!"

I pulled what bedding I could find from off the floor and out of the cupboards. Pulling it toward the beds, I looked over Dusknoir and Grovyle's conditions.

Dusknoir was bruised in many places. He also had scratches and cuts from Primal Dialga's claws. There was a particularly nasty one on his side that he was holding a hand over. It was clear from how he had moved around before, that he was also stiff. The inner pain he had felt earlier was probably gone with his saving of Grovyle, but I should talk to him about that later. Or have Grovyle do it.

Grovyle…

He was much worse off than Dusknoir. Where the Gripper Pokémon's injuries were mostly on the outside, Grovyle's wounds were predominantly within. Not to say he didn't carry bruises and cuts as well. He did. But those were not the worst. As I watched, every so often a trail of electricity would travel down his body. It would usually be followed by a wince or a twitch. He was still in pain…

"His spirit…has not re-adjusted."

"What?" I dragged myself away from my thoughts to look back at Dusknoir. He was looking at Grovyle.

"Those pillars…were draining his spirit. When he was freed, the spirit went back…It simply needs time…to re-adjust."

I just stared at him. He was so…matter-of-fact. As though he didn't know Grovyle at all. Grovyle had trusted him even as his soul was being melted away. And now Dusknoir acted as though this sort of thing happened to everybody!

"I see. Of course, his partially drained spirit just needs time to re-adjust. Naturally. How could I have not known that before?" I am not usually a sarcastic legendary. I do make certain exceptions.

Dusknoir focused his eye on me. "You do not trust me."

"Nngh…" A particularly large band of electricity trailed across Grovyle's chest. I watched it as it sunk into his arm.

"No. No, I don't trust you."

"I can understand that. I can understand that far better than why Grovyle trusts me." I turned my gaze back to Dusknoir. "I would not trust me either. I do not know why he does."

"Because he's Grovyle." I replied. It was as simple as that. When Grovyle puts his trust in you, it is hard won, and not easily lost.

Grovyle…

I fiddled with the tangled bedding. I needed to do something. Something constructive. I had been so useless…No. Worse than that. I had been **bait.** Because I had gotten caught, Grovyle had gone through what he had. And even Dusknoir had suffered because of me. His saving Grovyle had been good in the fact that he joined our side, but he had also gotten a beating from Primal Dialga. I hadn't even been able to fight Primal Dialga on my own. I wasn't too mad about that. I would have lost. But still…to make a stand…To actually **do** something…

"Ce…Celebi…" I looked up at Dusknoir. His eye was closed. So if he didn't call me…

"Grovyle! You're awake!" I flew to his side. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. I had…forgotten…how hard…going through your…longer time slides…was."

"Yes. Plus I was bringing far more Pokémon than usual."

He smiled at me. "Worried?"

"Why my dear Grovyle! I **never **worry. You should know that!"

"Hmmm…" He knew me well enough to disbelieve me. "Do we have…items?"

My smiled faded. "No. Someone went through the tree and took almost everything. Some of the Sableye are checking to see if there was anything left behind."

"I thought…I thought the door was…hidden?"

"It was. Or was supposed to be." I sighed. "Maybe we just thought it was secret. I don't know. The other Sableye are out looking for any items near here."

"She didn't want to tell them to steal. So I had to. I take it she hasn't led much."

I frowned at Dusknoir. No one invited him into the conversation. I had thought he was asleep.

Grovyle looked back to me, then to Dusknoir. "We were…never used to stealing…from those who didn't have much…to begin with. It's not …wrong…to think of others. But…Celebi… Risika and Squirtle…will fix the past. I'm sure of it. We need all we can…to buy them time."

"I know. I just hesitated."

"Grovyle, do you truly believe that those two children can defeat Master Dialga of the past?

"Yes."


	4. Sableye Search

I don't think Dusknoir expected Grovyle to answer so quickly. He blinked his eye a few times before continuing. "But, they are only children! They haven't even evolved! How can you expect them to defeat the Deity of Time?"

"How do you expect **us** to defeat the Deity of Time?" I pointed out.

He turned away. "I don't. But what else can we do?"

"Exactly. This is all we can do. It's all that they can do as well. They know what's at stake as well as we do. They won't fail because they **can't** fail. Have a little faith."

"Uh…They…might not know…the whole story…"

"Oh? Did you perhaps not tell Squirtle that if time is put to right, his precious partner will disappear?"

"Grovyle! He doesn't know? When Risika…when she…that will destroy him!"

"I didn't…have a chance…" He looked at Dusknoir. "I was…preoccupied…"

Again, I was reminded that Dusknoir was a _recent_ ally. But also a _recent_ enemy. He had tried to kill Risika and Squirtle…

Oh…those two…What this would do to them if they won…

"We'll…cross that bridge…when it comes…"

"If it comes."

"Enough you two. Get some rest. Whether we can win or not, we at least need to put up a fight."

I left them both to their rest and joined the Sableye in scouring the tree for any leftover items. Every room I searched just made me feel worse. There was _nothing_…Whoever had robbed my tree had done a thorough job of it.

"Celebi! Celebi!" Two of the Sableye I had sent off to search the tree were running towards me.

Perhaps not so thorough after all? "What is it? Did you find anything?"

One of the Sableye nodded. "Wheh-heh-heh! A whole bag of Oran berries! And an apple! Though the apple looks a bit…ripe…"

'A bit' was an understatement. The apple was one poke away from being applesauce. And some of the Oran berries looked…strange…

The other Sableye had noticed this as well. He plucked one of the odd berries out of the bag and sniffed it. He then threw it at his partner's head.

"Wheh-heh! This is an OR**E**N berry you fool! Do you want to kill Master Dusknoir?"

"You found them too! I bet you found half of those Oren berries! I picked up Or**a**n berries! I checked!"

"I doubt that!"

"Wheh-heh-heh! Would you like an Oren berry stuffed down your **throat**!"

"_**ENOUGH!"**_

A little point I'd like to make. When I have someone to take care of, I get a tad…cranky. Bickering, with a room of injured Pokémon trying to rest right down the hall, is not a good way to keep me in a cheerful mood.

The Sableye had noticed this.

"Now. Sort the Or**a**ns from the Or**e**ns and put them _quietly_ in the bedroom. Then go to the room next to it with the cots, and get some sleep."

"Heh?"

"What?"

"You…you want us to sleep? But…but we…"

If I live to be yet another decade, I will never understand Sableye. Didn't they _want_ a rest?

"Aren't you tired at all? I mean, you fought Primal Dialga. Not to mention my timeslides could take it out of anybody. I just thought you might want a break."

"Wheh…we...do. It's just…no one ever…"

"We just never had someone give us a break when there were still things to do."

"Well that's a poor way to run things! Working your people to exhaustion! That's not how we do things. You're no good to anyone tired, for one thing. Go. The cots are all set up. Get some sleep."

You'd think I had given them a Golden Apple the way they looked at me. It was sad; the way Primal Dialga treated his soldiers.

How_ Dusknoir _treated his soldiers…

"Celebi!"

I had forgotten that three of the six Sableye had been searching the tree. "What is it? What have you found?"

"Wheh-heh! Not any items, but I did find this!" He brandished a paper at me.

"What is it?"

"A note!"

"From whom?"

"Wheh-heh-heh! That's the strange bit. It says it's from you!"

.,.,,.,,.,.,,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,..,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,..,.,.,,.,..,.,.,.,.,

Fear me, for I am a dialogue-er. This is the part of the story where having a handy time travel chart would be handy. Hold on tight, it's gonna get confusing.

(Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey)


	5. Dear Me, From You

Dear Me,

I'm sorry you'll find this rather late. An hour had already gone by when I found it, so, naturally it will be the same for you. I'm not sure why we/I decided to go back in time to steal the items from ourselves. Maybe one time, wild Pokémon really did get into the tree and one of us fixed it. Either way, I received this same note telling me/you this:

Go back three hours, and take the items from the tree.

Good luck!

From,

You

P.S. You'll forget an apple and a bag of berries, but it's ok. Just leave them.

P.P.S. Trust Dusknoir.

_Celebi_

., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., ., .,

It took forever to try and find a font that she might write in, but was still readable.

: )


	6. Three Hours Ago

"Well. I didn't see this coming. Or maybe I did…"

"Wheh, what?"

"I know who took the items."

"Who?"

"I did."

"Wheh-heh-heh! What? Why?"

"Well I haven't done it yet!"

"Uh."

"Just trust that I'll be back with items in a minute. Or three hours, depending on your frame of time."

"Uh."

"Bye!"

I felt a little bad about just leaving that Sableye all confused in the future, but I had learned long ago not to try and explain time and it's intricacies to Pokémon who wouldn't fully understand it. Even Grovyle would glaze over when I tried to elaborate. Now I just tell them that it's wibbly and move on.

I released the timeslide for three hours ago. Though still consuming, it was much easier than trying to drag six Sableye, a Dusknoir, and a Grovyle along. Instead of being a mass of Celebi particles hurtling through the time stream, I remained in my own form for the trip.

I came out in my tree, three hours ago. It was as I had left it: chock full of items, and apples, and berries.

But not for long.

I gathered up all I could find, along with messing up the bedding and riffling through everything. It needed to be just as I had found it three hours later. There had to be a mess, because I cleaned a mess, because I had made the mess, because- oh I just made a mess alright?

I took longer than I thought I would. Though not the three hours I had told myself to go back. Why spend the extra effort of going farther back then needed? Oh well. If it had worked back then, it would work now. Why mess with a stable time loop? I put everything I had found (minus a bag of berries and an over-ripe apple) in a pile and gathered power enough to send me forward back to when I had left. After all, I didn't need to stay for the full three hours. It takes only a moment to charge that kind of timeslide. But a moment was long enough for me to watch as a swarm of Sableye burst into my tree.

I had wondered if my little timeslide would attract Primal Dialga's attention. It had. I had gone back far enough that Primal Dialga was still sane (Well, sane-er) and ever alert for the tiniest change in the time stream.

It then occurred to me, that I never knew how Primal Dialga and the Sableye had found me before they put me into the icicle trap.

I did it. I had led them, to myself.

Oops.

Now I knew why going back three hours was a good idea.

The Sableye were rushing toward me.

I released the power and sped forward through time.

,.,,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

Last chapter, I looked for a good font for Celebi's letter. Now I find out that just changes it all back to normal. Ah well. Read and review please!


	7. Um, What?

"Celebi?"

"Whuh?" Why was the ceiling on the wall? And when did the Sableye get so big?

"Wheh-heh-heh! Is she alright?"

"I don't know. Celebi?"

It wasn't. They hadn't. I was on the floor.

Why was I on the floor?

"When did I get on the floor?"

"About the time when you popped in with a bunch of items."

"Wheh-heh! You collapsed! We were going to put you on one of the beds, but then you woke up."

"Are you alright?"

I sat up. I had never collapsed before. I had certainly never collapsed surrounded by assorted items from three hours in the past before. But then again, I'm pretty sure no one can say they _have_. Three Sableye eyed me worriedly. I think they expected me to keel over at any moment.

"Weren't you going to bed?"

"Wrong Sableye."

"Wheh-heh. We're the ones that went out to look for items."

"Even if it meant stealing. Wheh-heh-heh!"

"Ah," I blushed, embarrassed. It was rather rude of me to not notice they were different. Granted, they were all very similar, and yes, I had just woken up. But still.

"Well! Did you find any items?" If I asked quickly enough, maybe they would forget that I had thought they were the other Sableye. If the conversation diverted them enough, maybe they would also forget that I had fainted.

It was a one-time thing. Nothing to worry about. Hopefully.

"Wheh-heh! We didn't find _anything_!"

"Or any_one_."

"The whole woods were silent!"

"Time is frozen. It's _always_ silent."

The Sableye shook their heads.

"Unusually silent. Even for a frozen time."

"Nobody is around. Normally the Rattata are out making some kind of noise."

"Or the Sentret."

"Or the Hoothoot."

"Or the Pidgey"

"Or the Spearow."

"Or the—"

I held up a hand before they started trying to name every Pokémon in the forest.

"How long have we been back in time?" I glanced at the clock and answered my own question. "Two and a half hours. That leaves us with roughly three and a half hours to rest up, and prepare for fighting Primal Dialga. Not a lot of time. It's ok that you didn't find any items, because I went back in time even further and stole my own items from myself. Also I just found out that I led my own capture. But. Um, doesn't matter. Could you all sort through these items and separate the healing ones from the, uh, fighting ones? If you need help wake the other Sableye. I need to check on Grovyle and Dusknoir. Then we'll, um. Eat. Maybe. You and the other Sableye, uh. Put the healing things in the…um. Bedroom. No. Not there. The…uh…kitchen. Yes. I have to go…" I tried to focus. So many things needed to be done. My brain was aching. I suppose passing out wasn't very good for my mind. There was so much to do, so little time and time was the _problem_…

"Wheh…Celebi?"

I looked down from where I had been floating and thinking. One of the Sableye handed me a Sitrus berry.

"Wheh-heh. You sound like you need it."

These Sableye were growing on me. I smiled at him gratefully and popped the berry into my mouth. Already I felt better.

"Thank you."

They ushered me towards the door. "Wheh-heh-heh! We've got this covered! Go look after Master Dusknoir and Grovyle!"

I smiled. We might just make it after all.

.,.,.,..,.,.,,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

Next time on Recovery! How are Grovyle and Dusknoir healing? Is Celebi going to make it the full six hours? Will the time stream get any more complicated? How should I know? I'm making this up as I go along! Tune in next time for: Recovery! PMD Sky!


	8. Worry

I flew into the bedroom where Grovyle and Dusknoir were resting. Dusknoir's eye was closed and he looked to be asleep, though I had thought that before. Grovyle's eyes were closed as well, but they opened as soon as he heard me fiddle with the berries laying on the nightstand.

"You should be asleep."

"So…should you…"

"Nonsense. I'm not the one who went through a bunch of dungeons only to be soul-zapped at the end of it."

"No…I get all the luck…But you have been…sliding through time…an awful lot…How many has it been now?"

"Only three."

"And being paralyzed for…who knows how long."

"It wasn't too long. And it wasn't that bad! Really! I mean, I couldn't move but—"

Grovyle gave me a look. "Celebi…"

"Grovyle..."

"I've had Spiritomb…in me as well. It hurts."

"But I'm out now. And the timeslides aren't that long. Stop worrying." I had seen Grovyle try to sleep when he worries. In short, he doesn't. And he _needed_ to…

"Celebi-"

"Grovyle, really. I'm alright."

He gave up. "Fine…But promise that you'll rest…sometime soon…"

"I promise."

We had three hours to get well enough to defeat the Deity of Time. I could rest later.

Hopefully…

"Wait a minute…You only knew about one of my timeslides. How did you know I slid again?"

"Uh…" He looked up at me sheepishly, "I may have talked to the Sableye…"

"Grovyle!"

"I was worried!"

"And you think you being hurt doesn't worry _me_?" I yelled, "You need to focus on getting _yourself_ better, not checking up on _me_!"

"Knowing you're ok _does_ make me feel better…" He said quietly.

That stopped me. _I_ made him feel better? It was…the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me. He cared. He _cared_. I think I might have blushed because my face felt hot all over.

I say 'I think' I blushed, because the room went very dark all of a sudden.

.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,,,.,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,,,,.,.,.,.,.,.,

So, to review the answers to last chapter questions, Grovyle and Dusknoir are healing slowly but surely, Celebi is…well…_not_, the time stream isn't out of the woods yet, and I have as much idea of what's going to happen as any of you do! Woohoo!

Next chapter is already in the works! =^-^=


	9. Of Resting and Time Loops

I woke up in Grovyle's arms. It took me a moment to get my bearings because the room was suddenly at an odd angle. And kinda fuzzy.

"Celebi! Celebi, can you hear me?" That was Grovyle. Well of course, who else has green arms with blades at the wrists? Well, _another_ Grovyle could have those, but that wasn't really the point. I looked up to where I assumed his face would be. My brain was not working properly at all. I should know where his head would be located.

I found his face after a moment of searching. It was very worried. There were two of him! Oh. No. No there weren't. Just one. That was silly of me. Of course he would have only one head. Hey, two again!

"Celebi?" Oh, right. I should probably have told Grovyle I was awake, _when_ I woke up. Instead, I was staring up at him like an idiot.

"I'mmmmm'kay…"

"No…No, you're really not. Celebi…you passed out. In mid-air! You've been out for…a good ten minutes now, and…you're not even listening to me, are you?"

No, I wasn't. I was gathering my jumbled mind back together, looking around, trying to make sense of what was going on. I was in Grovyle's arms, and we were both on the floor. Well, He was kneeling on the floor, holding me. Dusknoir looked like he was still asleep. There were no Sableye in sight. They were probably still sorting the battle items from the healing items for Grovyle and Dusknoir…

Wait.

"Grovyle, you should be in bed." I looked back up at his face. The worry was now coupled with grudging amusement.

"You just fainted…and you're worrying about _me_?"

"I always worry about you my dear Grovyle. But even more so now, as you're the one who's hurt."

"You're the one who fainted. And I couldn't just…let you fall on the floor."

I felt that I should get up and chew him out for not resting, but my wings were being very uncooperative… And his arms were very comfortable…Maybe I should just take a small nap…

I honestly could have dozed off right then and there, and maybe I did for a moment, but then my temporary perch started shaking.

My 'perch' being Grovyle's arms.

_That _cleared the fog from my muddled brain.

"Grovyle!" I forced my wings to lift me out of his arms (as comfortable as they were) and into the air to get a better look at him. He wasn't as bad as before, but he was trembling. That was because of me. Unsurprising really. He had lunged out of bed to catch me, an action his body wasn't ready for just yet.

For someone who insisted he rest, I sure wasn't helping.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Celebi, its ok…"

I helped him to stand and led him back into bed. "No, no it's not. Here I am telling you to rest and then I go and collapse on you!"

"I don't think you can be held responsible…for passing out…"

"I feel like I should be. Doing it the first time was bad enough, but this—"

"Wait, what?" He was looking at up me from his bed, shocked.

"What?"

"Doing it '_the first time_'? This is the _second_ time you've fainted?"

"Oh. Uh." I hadn't told him about that had I? For obvious reasons.

"Celebi!"

"I'm fine!"

"Oh really? Then so am I!" He started pushing the covers back off of himself.

"Wh-What? You are not! Lie back down!" I began pushing him back onto the bed. Unfortunately, he is much bigger, so I wasn't making much progress. And he certainly wasn't being cooperative.

"If you're fine, then I must be fine too!"

"_I'm_ a little tired, _you_ nearly had your soul _melted_!"

"Tired? You've passed out! Twice!"

"I'm not you! Now get in bed!"

"Not until you get some rest of your own!"

"Can't we all just get along?"

Grovyle and I both glanced up to see who had spoken. Our resident one-eyed ghost was awake again.

Dusknoir did his strange little eye-smile.

"Having trouble?" He asked ironically. I looked down at the position Grovyle and I were in. Me, pushing him down onto the bed. He, pushing himself up out of the bed. Covers sprawled all around.

Grovyle and I disentangled ourselves mighty quick.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Not long. It's surprising how well I can sleep. Even when two Pokémon decide have a shouting match in the bedroom."

I blushed, embarrassed. Yes, Grovyle needed to rest, but Dusknoir had been hurt too. Even if I wasn't entirely sure about his loyalty, he would (possibly) fight against Primal Dialga with us. If there was even the slimmest chance of him being on our side, he had to be just as well as I could make him.

If he turned against us, I would be prepared. If we lost, it would hardly matter. If we won…well, it still wouldn't matter…

"I'm sorry about that," I said, still embarrassed. "I was just trying to get _someone,_" a pointed look at a certain wood gecko Pokémon "to get some much needed rest."

"I would have still been in bed if _someone _hadn't decided to pass out right in front of me."

"Pass out?" How Dusknoir could convey surprise and query, with no more face then an eye, was amazing. "Celebi, you've fainted?"

"Twice. She's fainted twice now."

"Twice?"

"It was…" I floundered for a reason. Or more, for an excuse. "It was just because I had recently done anther timeslide. It's not easy warping the fabric of space-time when the world is frozen you know. If time was moving as it should be, I could pop us back and forth through time with as much effort as rolling over in bed. I wouldn't even _need_ the Passage of Time. But as it is now, timesliding takes a lot out of me."

"Where, or rather _when_, did you travel to?"

"Yeah, Celebi. The Sableye told me that you slid but…then he said something about a note…and items, and…I didn't really get it."

"Oh, that. One of the Sableye found a note, addressed to me."

"From the Pokémon that robbed your tree?"

"No, Dusknoir. Let me finish. The note was addressed _to_ me, but it was also _from_ me."

I had received more blank stares in the past four hours then I had in the past four years. Time travel! Remember? Time travel! When you add time travel into the mix, _anything_ is believable. But it's impossible to get that through to Pokémon with a roughly linear timeline.

But at least I knew that they would be focusing on understanding the time loop, as opposed to trying to get up.

Or yelling at me.

"A note…from yourself…?"

"_To_ yourself?"

"But…how…what…?"

It was fun watching them try to wrap their brains around time travel. Dusknoir acted so high-and-mighty, it was nice to see him confused.

I take my victories where I can get them.

"Why did you go back?"

"Oh, because the note told me to."

Dusknoir blinked. "You read this note from 'yourself' and simply _believed_ that it was from you?"

"It had my signature on it. My handwriting. Not to mention that the note just sounded like something I would write."

"I see. May I read this note?"

I hesitated. I had left the note in the room I had brought the items from the past into, though I had put it high upon a shelf so the Sableye wouldn't bother it. I didn't want them to damage it, or else I would have to write a totally new one to send back to myself when I got a chance. Stable time loop and all. Though Dusknoir probably wouldn't rip it, or tear it, I didn't want him to read it. Not that he couldn't read the parts about going back three hours and the over-ripe apple and such, but…

_/P.P.S. Trust Dusknoir./_

I hadn't figured out why I would write something like that, but I certainly didn't want Dusknoir to know about it.

"Celebi? I asked if I could see it. You haven't passed out again I hope."

"No. It's just that…" Lying didn't settle well on my conscience, but it was Dusknoir, so, though he was 'on our side', I didn't have as great of an aversion to it.

"I don't have it anymore."

"What? Why not?"

"Dusknoir, you must start learning about time travel. What we have here is a stable time loop. I received a note from the future, so me, in the future, has to send it back to me from the past. If we mess with that, we'll have a paradox. Well, actually we wouldn't because if we _do_ mess with it then that would have meant that we _had_ messed with it so—"

"Celebi…you're breaking his mind. And mine. Why don't you have the note anymore?"

"Ah. Yes. I sent the note back in time so that I would receive it earlier and…go back in time."

"To do…what?"

"Oh, to steal the items from myself."

Dusknoir blinked again. "But why—"

"Dusknoir, just go with it." Grovyle interrupted. "It's time travel. You're not going to understand it. I'm not going to understand it. It's…" He looked up at me. "What's that word you use?"

"Wibbly?"

"Exactly. So instead of worrying about where or _when_ the items came from, let's just use them and get better, ok?" Grovyle laid back into bed and closed his eyes. "Let's just…rest…alright?"

"Grovyle?" He was sound asleep.

That…wasn't reassuring…

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Ok, this took a long time to write. One reason is, I've been working on some other fics (I explain it a little on my profile if you want to see), and my attention has just been divided. The other reason is, you have been saying that you want longer chapters, and so I was trying to do that. Ha! See! I do listen to the stuff you say! So, if there's anything you think I'm not doing right, tell me and I will fix it! So…Read and Review!


	10. Usefulness and Pride

"I was simply trying to understand-"

"Shhh…He's asleep."

"Asleep? Now? Celebi, if he is falling asleep that quickly, then that's a very bad sign."

"I'm well aware of that thank you."

"How much longer do we have?"

I sighed. "About two hours. A little more, but I round down."

"And he's still that exhausted. Hmm…" Dusknoir carefully eased onto his side, away from me. "Well then. I had better rest well while I still can."

I have rarely agreed with the Ghost-Type more. We were running out of time. Rest would only do so much; they needed those items I had brought with me from the past. Now.

I started for the door.

"Oh, and Celebi." I turned.

"What?" He hadn't even rolled over, so my question went to his back. I suppose I wasn't worth the effort?

"Hadn't you better get some rest as well?"

"I'm not the one who needs it. You two are in far worse shape."

"Ah. So you are not going to be fighting Master Dialga."

What? Of course I would be fighting Primal Dialga! I was not the strongest legendary there was, but it wasn't as though the extra power would hurt. I was certainly stronger than the Sableye.

"Um, yes, I am. Why wouldn't I be fighting?"

His rolled halfway, so his eye was focused on me. "We cannot divert our energies into protecting you as well as ourselves. If you are too tired to fight effectively, you will only slow us down. Either rest and be useful, or stay up and stay behind."

With that, he rolled his back toward me once again.

I drifted out of the bedroom. What he had just said…It was as though a Cleanse Orb had been set off on my head. Useless? Is that what he was calling me? _Useless_? I was a shiny time-traveling Celebi! I wasn't useless! Dusknoir was wrong! He was just being a jerk like before! Calling me useless…Who knows, he might be trying to make it so he'll fight Primal Dialga alone with Grovyle. Then what would happen? I still wouldn't put it past him to turn traitor. It wasn't as though that was new for him. Me. Useless. Hah! Dusknoir was wrong, he—

'_If you are too tired to fight effectively, you will only slow us down.'_

Oh.

Oh dear.

He was right.

He was _right_.

I was…tired. I had been lying when I had said my blackouts were just because of timesliding. Naturally, shifting though time didn't help but, it was taking all my strength to keep my eyes open _now_. If I was still this tired when we were battling Primal Dialga, I wouldn't have the strength to attack. Knowing Grovyle, he would try and protect me. I would be…just what Dusknoir said.

Useless.

Curse my pride! Had I learned _nothing_ from my years as the only resistance in this frozen world of darkness? Pride was a luxury! At times we had scavenged in the dirt and trash for food, but Arceus forbid I miss a battle? No. We could be vain and stupid _after_ we saved the world. Dusknoir was right. As I was, I would become a liability.

Long-time enemy he may be, that did not diminish Dusknoir's intelligence. He was right, and I was wrong.

I was being a fool. And we had no time for it. I was _tired_. I was tired, and I was growing weaker every second. It was time I admitted it.

I flew into the kitchen. All six Sableye was working hard. There were now three distinct piles instead of one huge one. One was made of food, berries, and seeds. The other consisted of rocks, sticks, scarves, and orbs. And what looked like a tag…

They looked up when I came in. "Wheh-heh! Celebi! Look! We've gotten really far!"

"Yeah! More than halfway through!"

"Wheh-heh-heh! You sure brought a lot of stuff from the past…"

"How long did it take you to get all of it?"

"Wheh-heh! What now?"

"Yeah, where do you want us to put them?"

I blinked. It was confusing when they all spoke at once.

"Um…For all of the healing items, uh…put them in Grovyle and Dusknoir's bedroom. And…" No more pride. No more pride! I took a deep breath. "And if you could put just a few in the bedroom next door that would be great."

One of the Sableye looked up from his pile. "The bedroom next door? But nobody sleeps there."

"I…I will be." There. I had said it.

"Wheh-heh! Ok! What kind of healing items?"

I blinked. "You…You all don't mind that I'm going to bed?" The Sableye glanced up, confused.

"Wheh-heh-heh! No. Should we?"

"It's not like you've had an easy day."

"Wheh-heh! Yeah, it's amazing you've gone so long without rest!"

"So! What kind of items do you want in your room?"

I smiled at them. They had really grown on me, these Sableye. "Just a few berries and maybe an Elixir. And Sableye, thank you. All of you."

I think I might have embarrassed them. They all started blushing and rushing around through the piles and 'Wheh-heh-heh'-ing everywhere. I just giggled a little and went, at last, to bed.

The bedroom next to the kitchen was small, but cozy. It had only one tiny bed, and a little bitty cabinet. Fortunately, it was plenty big enough for little old me. I tucked myself down under the sheets, set my inner time sense to wake me up in about an hour, closed my eyes, and slept.

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Sometimes it takes someone you really don't like to get you to see what's right under your nose. When it's a loved one, you can write it off as regular caring. When it's someone not so loved, well…They aren't going to go out of their way to spare your feelings.

I'm sorry it took a while, and I'm sorry if it's too short for some of you. But…Celebi was really tired! She couldn't do that much! Yes, I will blame the quality of my writing on the character in it, why do you ask?

Anyway, read, (Well, duh. You've gotten down to here haven't you?) and review! Reviews are the reviver seeds of my expedition of fanfiction!


	11. WakeyWakey Celebi

I woke to explosions.

My sense of time told me it had been forty-seven minutes and eighteen seconds since I had fallen asleep. My sense of smell told me something was on fire.

Needless to say, my nap ended rather quickly.

I flew out of my little bedroom, stuffing an Oran berry down on the way. Out in the hallway, I immediately saw the problem.

There was a Houndoom in my tree.

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DO NOT MESSAGE ME ABOUT THE LENGTH. The next (reasonably proportioned) chapter will be up either today or tomorrow. I'll explain then.


	12. I'm Up! Awake? Not So Much

Questions such as: 'Why is there a Houndoom in my tree?' 'How long has that thing been here?' 'What does it want?' 'Where are Grovyle, Dusknoir, or the Sableye?' all went through my mind rather quickly.

I neglected trying to find answers to these questions, in favor of launching an Ancient Power at my invader.

Rocks glowing with energy shot out at the fire hound, hitting it smack in the face. As soon as the first stone hit, I felt stronger, faster, and sturdier. I had received the lucky bonus from launching that attack. Not so lucky for my opponent. Three rocks to the face and side and it was down for the count.

I grinned. "Super Effective."

My victory, small though it may have been, was short lived. Houndoom traveled in packs, and something was still on fire.

I hurried into the bedroom where Grovyle and Dusknoir had been resting, my brain going to every possible outcome, each one terrifying. Grovyle was a Grass-Type after all. I had every reason to worry my brains out. Thankfully, when I flew into their room, their beds were empty.

On the other hand, if their beds were _empty_…

Where were they?

And what was still on fire?

I flew into the kitchen. Ironically, it wasn't the room currently burning. The piles of items were gone, only empty bags were on the floor. The Sableye must have packed all of the items up. I hoped none of them had gotten singed. It had taken quite a lot of effort to get them into this time in one piece.

Oh, and I hoped the items were ok too.

So if no one was in the kitchen, and no one was in bed, and a Houndoom had gotten inside the tree…

It was now officially time to panic. As I proceeded to do so, I flew out of the kitchen, back out into the hall, and straight into the back of Dusknoir. I'll admit, I have never been happier to see him. He looked rather relieved to find me as well.

"Celebi! There you are! The Sableye said you were in a bedroom but there are so _many_ in this blasted tree!"

"Dusknoir! Are you all right? Where is Grovyle? Where are the Sableye? What is on fire?"

The ghost blinked slowly before answering. In order, which was slightly annoying. "I'm fine. Outside. Also outside. The whole tree."

"My whole _tree _is on _fire_?"

"Yes. That is why I refused to let Grovyle come inside to look for you. It is sheer luck that you haven't stumbled into the engulfed areas already."

"I was looking for all of you! Where did you all go? _When_ did you all go? And why did you leave me behind?"

"Celebi, as important as all of those questions are, I think it would be better for all of us if we could continue this conversation outside."

"Ah." Right, burning tree. No exactly the best place to ask questions. "Very well. Let's go." I started to fly toward the entrance to my tree.

"Celebi, no! Not that way!"

"What? Why not? It's the closest exit."

"And also how the enemy made their entry. It was the first place they decided to burn."

In my defense, I had only woken up a few minutes ago. Most of my time spent awake since then had been shooting rocks and worrying about everyone else. Logic was still in bed.

Stupid Dusknoir and his stupid reason, making me feel stupid…

"Fine. Then how do _you_ propose we get out of here?"

Dusknoir looked at me for a moment. As I stared back, wondering what he was hoping to convey in a staring contest, I noticed his shadow was moving. Growing. It grew far bigger than Dusknoir and I combined, and was still expanding when a fresh billow of smoke met my nose. The fire was spreading.

Behind us.

"We're trapped."

"I should think not. Have a little faith, Celebi. Also, perhaps holding your breath would be helpful." I would have asked why holding my breath would help with fire when my body was _flammable_, but I didn't get the chance. The Ghost-Type grabbed me with one of his huge hands and dived_ into _his shadow.

Yes, into his shadow. I know, I wasn't expecting it either. We did not slam into the floor as I feared. Instead, we plunged into…nothing? Everything? A rushing of…black…empty…stuff…but not…

Very confusing. Very disorienting. Never want to do it again.

Also, as we were rushing through shadow, there was no air. Holding my breath was a fantastic idea.

We…surfaced...out in the forest outside of my tree. Dusknoir floated out of his shadow as if he had simply gone out a door. I gasped for air and started checking my limbs to make sure all of me had made it.

"Shadow Sneak. One of my favorites. I am quite adept at it, so you don't have to worry. I did not leave one of your antennae behind."

It wasn't what he said, but his tone, that made me stop checking myself over and look up. He sounded…amused? I looked closely and…he…he was! He was doing that eye-smile of his! At a time like this?

It must've been my abrupt awakening, or the way we had just traveled, or _something_ that had scrambled my senses. Because I would never have done this in my right mind. As Dusknoir did as much of a grin as one could without a mouth, I flew up and smacked the top of his head.

"Ow!"

"Oh!"

I only realized what I had done after the fact. I put my hands over my mouth in…some kind of emotion. Embarrassment? Horror? I don't know. But I had just done something I never thought I would, _ever._ I had treated Dusknoir like I would anyone else. Had Grovyle, or Squirtle or Risika joked around that way, I would've treated them like that. A tap on the head, my own teasing when I couldn't think of anything else. It was common for me. Risika as well, though she was better at it now due to having vines instead of those silly human hands. Nothing unusual. But…

This was _Dusknoir_…And I was treating him as a _friend_…

He looked at me, rubbing his head. I looked at him, my hands still firmly locked over my mouth in a mixture of feelings I didn't even want to untangle.

I had no idea what to say. I had no idea what to say to whatever _he_ would say.

I was almost glad a Houndour chose that time to come bounding up with an Ember ready to fire.

Almost.

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Ok. So. The reason for the abominably short chapter was because when I wrote it, I didn't want any of the impact to be lost. A very short chapter, with that much of an abrupt change seemed to hit best when it was on its own. Also, the reason this chapter wasn't up _yesterday_ like I promised, is because when I was stuck at a party I didn't even want to go to for _hours_. XP

And the reason I didn't want to explain the short chapter in the short chapter's AN, it because I didn't want the note to be bigger than the actual chapter. So…yeah. Sorry about the lateness!


	13. Fire and Dark

Dusknoir and I were not so distracted by my…action…as to forget how to dodge. Dusknoir seeped back down into his shadow, while I flew up above the Houndour. The fire pup shifted, trying to decide which one of us to come after. It seemed to make up its mind and went after the ghost. It must have been either very inexperienced or very stupid. It had left itself wide open. I shot another Ancient Power at it and the Houndour went down.

Which left Dusknoir and I right back where we had been. In awkwardness. But more than that, apprehension. There had been a Houndoom in my tree, and now a Houndour outside.

Houndour and Houndoom, travel in packs.

_Big_ packs.

Dusknoir looked up at me. "We need to find Grovyle and the Sableye."

I nodded, relived that he had chosen not to comment on my…action, and was focusing on the mission instead. "Which way?"

Dusknoir's eye had no half-smile anymore. "Follow the sounds of fighting."

Fortunately, in a frozen world, sound carries extremely well. Unfortunately, once we listened, we could hear all too well the sounds of battle. As we flew to find the rest of our group, Dusknoir told me what had happened while I had been asleep.

"After you left the room, I tried to get back to sleep. I might have dozed off a few times, but I'm not sure. However, after perhaps a half hour, I started sensing something. Or rather, _not_ sensing something."

I nodded grimly. "Dark-types."

"Indeed. I had expected trouble to come our way, so I woke Grovyle. You will be pleased to know that waking Grovyle did not take very long. We had just found the Sableye when we began to smell smoke. We rushed out, and found the main pack as soon as we escaped the tree. Grovyle noticed you were not among our number and tried to go back inside to find you. It took all of the Sableye as well as myself to convince him that I should go rather than him, considering the fact that I am not as flammable as Grovyle. He was very stubborn on the matter."

I think I blushed. Thankfully, Dusknoir pretended not to notice.

"Why didn't you wake me up? My room was right next to the kitchen!"

"I assumed you had already escaped."

"Do you really think I would leave everyone else behind? !"

Dusknoir blinked. He looked slightly confused. I suppose leaving others to save one's self is typical for henchmen of Primal Dialga. Old habits are hard to break, but they were getting better.

"I…didn't think about that, Celebi. I apologize." He looked down for a moment before going on. "I'm sure Grovyle knew you wouldn't leave. Please know that he did not seem to be fully awake when we fled. If he had been, I'm sure he would not have left without you."

I was sure too. It's not something we like to talk about, but when faced with fire, it's very hard for Grass-Types to think of anything other than getting away from it. And besides…

He tried to come back for me. Fire or no.

The noise of fighting was getting louder now. I could make out Sableye sounds, along with the growls of Houndour. Dusknoir and I turned a large tree and saw our group. Not in the best of situations, I might add.

Grovyle was backed against a tree, the six Sableye encircling him. In a more casual ring around them, Houndour and Houndoom.

Of all the Pokémon to attack….

I couldn't have feared a worse type combination. If they were just Fire-Types, it wouldn't be so devastating. Yes, Grovyle and I were Grass-Types, but my Ancient Power was a Rock-Type move, and Grovyle was skilled in using Dig. Though there were only so many times we could use them…

But what made our opponents so terrible was that they weren't simply Fire. They were Fire and _Dark_.

I was part Psychic. Dusknoir was a Ghost.

This was a problem.

Dark-Types were immune to psychic attacks. No…not just immune.

Psychically, Dark-Types were black holes. It wouldn't matter how much power I threw at them, it wouldn't make a whit of difference.

The power would simply…disappear…

Much the same, Ghost-Types were completely ineffective. Just as psychics attacked the psyche of their opponents, ghosts attacked the spirit. But a Dark-Type simply sucked the attacks away.

I know I'm harping on this a bit, but it's important to clarify just how _bad_ our situation was. Not only would we be useless in fighting them with those attacks, but they would actually be draining us throughout the battle, whether we used a Psychic/Ghost attack or not.

Fire and Dark. The two types best suited against our little group, combined within one kind of Pokémon. One kind of Pokémon who also happened to travel in large packs. Oh, and half of our group was surrounded and we were all outnumbered.

Someone up there hated us.

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GAH! This chapter took so freaking LONG! I would turn on my computer and just STARE at this fic and nothing would come out! I'm really sorry about the delay you guys, but believe me, I _tried_ to write. I feel so bad for taking this long. : ( But the good news is, I was able to write little chunks of the later story, so the next chapters should be out soon-ish.

Again, really sorry about the lateness. Review please! =^-^=


	14. Get Out Of My Way

Being outnumbered a pack to nine with a dual-type disadvantage; you'd think I'd be scared, wouldn't you? I should've been. But I wasn't.

I was _angry_.

Everything that had happened today…No, everything that had happened since I hatched from my egg, had been hard. And even before my birth and before the Celebi before me, everything has been hard. Grueling. Not just trying to fix the world, but just trying to _survive_. Everything had been hard and near-hopeless for decades! When Risika found her way here with the power we needed to figure out how to fix this, I had honestly thought things would get better. And when the Treeko that had been, evolved into the Grovyle of now, I had felt even more hope that things would get easier. And they had! For a good year, we were on a roll! We had found all the old Time Gear shrines and I had even found a Passage of Time to set our plan into action. Sure it hadn't been easy, but at least it had been bearable!

And then everything went back into _hard_.

With Primal Dialga and Dusknoir and not knowing if Grovyle and Risika had made it and then having them come back and Risika's transformation and escaping all the time only to be _caught_ by _Spiritomb _and used as_ bait_ and seeing Grovyle being hurt and not being able to _help him_ and the items and timeslides and passing out and now _THIS_. This Mew-cursed pack of mangy dogs who were ruining everything right when it had been getting bearable, _again_, attacking the only Pokémon I truly cared about in this whole frozen _wasteland_, and eating up our time! I couldn't _stand_ it!

Was this the straw that broke the Camerupt's back?

Oh, yes. Yes, it was.

Grovyle and the Sableye needed a path out of the pack, and a mass of boulders controlled by a rather peeved legendary should do the job quite effectively.

I turned my anger on the ground around the pack of Fire-Types and began to wrench hunks of rock out. Not only to provide myself with ammunition, but also to disrupt the pack's footing. I had to get them far enough, or _scared_ enough not to attack. Grovyle and the Sableye must have realized what I was doing, because they began to climb the tree behind them, trying to get off the ground. The Sableye's claws were actually quite effective for climbing, and Grovyle had been born in the trees.

But while I was paying enough attention on the other half of my group not to accidentally hit them, my main focus was the pack and trying to, not hit them exactly, because the rocks I was wielding were large enough to 'smush' them, rather than 'smack' them. I am not a killer of my kind, no matter how furious I may be at the time of attacking. That's not to say I wasn't trying to bat them away with large rocks, because that was pretty much my whole plan. And it was working relatively well. The Houndour and Houndoom were not only loosing energy in trying to dodge, but their focus was now on me and my rocks, rather than my group; Grovyle and the Sableye being out of sight, presumably in the trees.

On the other hand, their focus was on _me_.

Rocks or no, I am still flammable.

It's rather annoying, actually. Even more so when the Houndour/doom realized that as well. Trying to control very large chunks of rock is much more difficult when Embers and Flamethrowers are being fired at you. Had I been on my own, I would've been in very deep trouble.

But I wasn't alone.

For every Flamethrower I saw heading my way, a Shadow Ball would shoot out from somewhere behind me. The attack dissolved before it could hit any of the fire hounds, but not before blowing through the waves of fire, dissipating them before they got too close. As thankful as I was to have someone guarding my back while Grovyle was preoccupied, have you ever tried to fight off a pack of type-advantaged enemies with the former right-hand of the greatest evil of the time behind you? It's _disconcerting_.

A question floated out from behind me, followed closely by another Shadow Ball, "Where are Grovyle and the Sableye?"

"The trees. The ground isn't exactly a safe place to stand at the moment."

"I had noticed a slight disturbance, yes. They had better be coming up with a plan up there. We cannot hold this particular strategy for very long."

"I'm amazed we've held out as long as we have."

"As am I, though your boulders do seem to be far larger and more…pointy, than normal, which could attest to our success in keeping the hounds at bay."

I tossed one of my smaller 'pointy' boulders at a clump of Houndour. "Just because I'm classified as a Legendary, doesn't make me any less susceptible to emotions like anger, Dusknoir. If that helps me defend my-" I glanced back towards the ghost. He was also looking at me. "—my…teammates…than I'll use it." Turning back to face my myriad of opponents, I tried a new strategy. Mostly because we were running out of power points and it stopped me from reflecting on my almost treating Dusknoir as a friend, _again_. This time I'd almost called him a friend! It might be different if I actually _felt_ like he was a friend, but he wasn't! He was still held in a distrusting light, no matter what he may do now.

No. There was no time to think about that. New plan. Start it now.

I slammed a few of my remaining rocks together into a floating wall of stone and plunged the bottom of it into the ground. Then, with a burst of power, I shot it towards the still-conscious members of the pack. A tidal wave of rock and psychic power that was near-impossible to dodge. Not a very elegant solution, but on a paralyzed planet, elegance is only a vague concept, not something to strive for. All that mattered was that it worked.

Well…at least a little. Some of the pack was now unconscious, but most of them were still awake and furious. They were stuck between my stone wall and the flaming shell of my tree, but there was no telling how long that would hold them for. The wall wasn't insanely high, and the fire certainly wouldn't faze them in the slightest. And since they were most likely sent by the slightly less deranged Primal Dialga, (because honestly, what are the odds a pack of Houndour and Houndoom just _happen_ to be patrolling nearby?) there might well be backup on the way.

"A neat solution, Celebi," Dusknoir commented, as though I _hadn't_ just saved us for the moment. "But we should start moving nonetheless. They will get out eventually, and your boulders might not be enough to stop them."

"I'm well aware of that, but unless you know which particular tree the rest of our group is in, we can't do much until they come down. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to sit for a moment." I started drifting slowly toward the ground. The attacks I'd thrown, along with the panic I'd felt right after waking up, was beginning to catch up with me. I hadn't realized how tired I still was. Thankfully, it was not the same kind of tired as before. This was not an 'I'm-going-to-pass-out-any-second' tired, this was a 'give-me-an-Oran-berry-and-a-minute-to-rest' tired. Much less serious and much easier to deal with. But whether we actually had _time_ to rest was the issue. If we didn't, then I would either need to stick it out, or someone was going to have to carry me.

I heard leaves rustle, and suddenly, I wasn't sinking anymore. Instead I was being held in very sturdy green arms.

"Celebi," Grovyle sighed. "Eventually, we're going to be well enough to look at each other eye-to-eye, instead of one of us looking up."

I beamed up at him. "But my dear Grovyle, you look so charming at this angle!" He rolled his eyes, but I saw a smile grow as well. The Sableye leaped down from their hiding place and landed next to us, each of them carrying a plump sack of items.

"All present and accounted for?" asked Dusknoir. All six pairs of the Sableye's eyes glinted brightly. "Good. Let's get moving. We are out of a hideout, and running out of time."

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Wow. I have been sucking with the whole…writing…thing…haven't I? Well, at least my writer's block is mostly gone now. I've been writing a whole bunch lately, though not as much on _Recovery_ as I'd like. Mostly stories like _Counting Straw_ and such. Anyway, I'm really sorry about the lateness (like you haven't heard that before) and though I'd like to promise I'll do better…Black and White is coming out this weekend so…No promises! =^-^=

(Btw, do any of you fantastic readers happen to be Tropers? [Tvtropes org, for those who don't know.] I was just wondering cause…you know…there's a PMD page and…yeah…Wow this is getting rambley. Sorry. =^-^= )


	15. Silly

Ok. As bad as our situation was, it was not nearly as dramatic as Dusknoir made it sound. Granted, we did have only a little over an hour to get to a place to see where Primal Dialga headed after the world began to thaw and then follow him and fight him and either lose and probably die or win and never exist, all while running from (and fighting off) a feral pack of Houndour and Houndoom and Arceus know what else, all while still recovering from assorted wounds, fatigue, soul-melting—Ok, you know what, forget I said anything. It was all just as dire and dramatic as he made it out to be. However, I was having some trouble thinking about all of the horrible things that had happened and undoubtedly will happen to us for one very simple reason:

Grovyle was carrying me.

I know. The world is ending in every sense of the word, and I'm swooning over a crush. Silly, right?

…No…No it isn't silly.

One way or another…we were not going to see tomorrow. Either because we defeated Primal Dialga and ceased to be altogether…or because we failed. And died.

I have lived in a world of perpetual darkness for all of my life. Anything, no matter how small, that can lighten what would be a miserable existence is worth celebrating. Grovyle is my own personal sun. Or at least, what I imagine a sun would be.

But the greatest part of being carried by the one Pokemon I would give and do _anything_ for, was that from my angle in his arms, I could see him smile.

I enjoy being with him, and better yet, I think he enjoys being with me. What we have, and what we had with Risika as well, is what kept us sane throughout the years of darkness and fear. Reminding ourselves of that is never silly, no matter what is going on at the time.

Even if it's the end of the world.

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Hey, guess what! I'm alive! Sorry about the delay everybody, but if I had a penny for every computer problem I've had, I could buy the _Internet. _I also apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but I was having a hard time making it flow with the next bit so I split it up.

I'm back! =^-^=


	16. Where Do We Go From Here?

"This should be far enough for now."

I stretched and fluttered out of Grovyle's arms to help the Sableye unpack some food. We had made excellent distance between ourselves and the pack considering most of our team had been bedridden not four hours ago. The clearing we had reached was a good place to stop and catch our breath before we rushed off to our doom.

Oh dear, that was a bit depressing. Perfectly accurate, but still. I had to try and stay positive. If I wasn't going to be cheerful, who would? The Sableye were taking their cues from the others and me. My dear Grovyle has many talents but 'cheer' is not high on that list, and I have seen Dusknoir actually smile twice in my lifetime, neither of those times being very happy for me. The smile after the fire in my tree was _not_ included. That left me to be the cheerful one, and with maybe an hour or two left to live what _was_ the point in spending it gloomy?

"We should formulate a plan." Dusknoir said.

"Oh, is it going to be something besides 'charge in and fight the Deity of Time'?"

Grovyle crooked a smile. "No, that's still the main plan."

"Wonderful. I was afraid I had missed something." I handed out a large portion of berries to everyone along with a pile for myself. Other than those we would take for Mystery Dungeons, there was really no use in saving them anymore. After today, the world would either flourish with berries and apples, or a loss of a bagful of fruit would be the least of any Pokémon's problems.

"Yes, well, your mastery of tactics aside, it's _getting_ to that fight that I am concerned with. We need to find an area where we can have a clear view of Icicle Forest and still be able to follow Mas- Primal Dialga to wherever it is he vanished to."

"Wherever it is he _will_ vanish. It hasn't happened yet," I reminded Dusknoir. "We still have about half an hour before time will start to thaw."

"Will that be enough time to find out where Primal Dialga will go, _and_ follow him?" asked Grovyle.

Dusknoir gave a small shrug. "I should think that would depend on how far he goes."

"Well, of course it doesn't," I said absently. I was honestly more concerned with giving everyone a fair share of our last meal, but I do tend to notice when Pokémon get obvious things wrong.

"Pardon?"

I looked up. Why were they all staring? I hadn't said any sort of grand statement. Of course it wouldn't—

Oh.

OH.

"Oh, I see! You don't know how—Oh my dears, I do forget how little you all know about a proper time flow!"

"If I might remind you that I _have_ been to the past, Celebi," Dusknoir said rather acidly. "I know full well how a flowing time stream works!"

"What about a flowing time stream, plus one absolutely adorable Time Travel Pokémon?"

He blinked.

"The more fluid time is, the easier it is for me to do…well, anything, really. Timeslides, generational jumps and…" I grinned. "_Teleporting_. All we need is a general direction, and I can jump us within chasing-range."

"Celebi, wouldn't that tire you out even more?" one of the Sableye asked.

"Now _that_ depends on how far Primal Dialga goes. But I'm sure it'll be fine."

Grovyle 'hmphed' "I've heard that before."

"Regardless of your teleportation, we still need a vantage point. We need to know M-Primal Dialga's direction if nothing else."

"What about Barren Precipice?" Grovyle asked. "That should be close enough. Primal Dialga wasn't all that subtle on his exit, so we should be able to see his direction. Plus, we can get there without having to go through any Mystery Dungeons."

"Barren Precipice?" Dusknoir looked out towards the aforementioned area. "Close enough to Icicle Forest, yes, but I'm not sure we can make it there in time. Even without the usual Mystery Dungeon delay."

"Do you have a better idea?" Grovyle asked.

No one said anything.

"Right. Then let's move out—"

"Hold on, my dear Grovyle," I interrupted, pointing at the pile of uneaten berries at his feet. "No one's finished eating yet."

Grovyle frowned. "We don't have time for lunch."

"We have to make enough time for it now. We won't have time for any breaks later, and no one can fight well on an empty stomach."

"Certainly not well enough to pose a threat to the Deity of Time," Dusknoir murmured. The Gripper Pokémon sat down and began eating his own share of the meal.

"Grovyle, _eat_. We'll make it Barren Precipice and we'll get there with food in us."

The Wood Gecko Pokémon sighed, then sat.

We ate our last meal in silence.

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Wow. Just…wow. I'm TERRIBLE aren't I? How long has it been since an update? Too long, that's what. I'm so sorry. I could use the excuse that I moved across the country…played a lot of Pokémon Black 2…Found Tumblr…but none of those are really good enough. I'm really sorry. :(


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